Published on the 28/04/2011 | Written by Newsdesk
The New Zealand Police are warning people to be vigilant following the hacking of 77 million Sony PlayStation accounts worldwide…
Sony has confirmed that the data stolen includes user’s names, addresses, email addresses, birthdates, usernames, passwords, logins, security questions and, potentially, credit card details.
Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael, Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ), Police National Headquarters, says New Zealanders who have accessed Sony PlayStation accounts need to be very vigilant in the weeks ahead.
“Parents of children who have accounts should talk with their kids and alert them to the possible risks following the mass hacking. Computers and electronic gaming networks are a way of life for most of us and while they’re a wonderful tool, they also open up potential risks unless people use them wisely.
“I would advise people to contact their banks if they have concerns about unauthorised use of their credit cards.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Michael says the incident is a timely reminder of the risks involved in providing information to electronic networks.
The official Playstation blog has offered details of the incident, saying that “[w]hile there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained”.
“For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking.
“When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.”
